Mirror, mirror
by SchoeneSeele
Summary: Fading the years had changed them will he learn the truth before its simply to late and even then can he mend the damage done?
1. Default Chapter

This is the summary or extremely short opening chapter. I've had this idea bouncing around my mind for a while. Short for now but it will get longer. Angsty to the best and mentions of R themes here and there. I'm Cat and may the show begin...

Alone, the word echoed lazily across Hermione Granger's mind. The Hermione Granger, once one of the trio, once the perfectionist of Gryffindor. But how long ago had that all been, she allowed herself to think. Her eyes scanned her empty room taking in its confining space . Seventh year was begining she should have been making her way down to the Great Hall for the ceremony, but she simply couldn't bring herself to face them all, not yet. Sighing she gathered herself and made her way through silent halls and corridors. Her last year at hogwarts it should have been begun with bitter sweet excitement. She looked the same the years hadn't changed her much physically the only diffrence was the complete lack of anything other than a thoughful look and tired eyes. She seated herself in the Hall listening to the distinct sounds of her fellow students rumble there way through the corridors. In hubub of the next few minutes she saw _him_. He was taller and had finally filled out thanks to the sports he'd played for years. Fiery red hair and piercing blue eyes set him apart in her eyes. She closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate on anything other than the insults being thrown her way. He was the one saying them but he couldn't wound her anymore deeply. Sighing she honed in on the last few minutes of the sorting and privately thanked whatever diety who could hear that it was over. The golden plates filled themselves as she rose from her seat and made her way to the exit. He caught her eye and stared her down she refused to open herself a centimeter. He was sitting at the end of the table and had obviously just made a horrible joke about her. She muttered something she knew only he would hear , " Goodbye lionheart." His eyes portrayed the shock he felt but only she could see it as she slipped into the empty corridors and headed to the Hospital wing slowly ever so slowly.

Review if you feel like it,. I'll post soon an update on this it should be a fairly good story. My carebear commands you to review and all flames will be used to burn marshmallows and Brittney Spears cd's.


	2. New dawns

Second installment this isn't going to get much happier just a lot more angsty. I'm cat and may the show continue...

Hermionie Granger was buried under a pile of parchment, heavy accient books, and stray bottles of ink with haphazardly perched quills. It was sometime late in the empty Gryfindor common room and the fire was slowly dying down to a frail crimson light. Hermionie had finished her work nearly an hour ago and had commenced cleaning up this almighty mess before her. Hearing the loud plunk of someone flopping into a chair near her she called out, " Who's there?" A thick and tired male voice answered her, " Its just me mione." " Hey, Ron how was practice," she murmured rising from her chair to join him at a couch infront of the dying blaze. He'd mearly shook his head at the mention of practice and she could see the lack of sleep was catching up with him. Snuggling closer to him, she leaned her head onto his shoulder as his arm came down to wrap around her waist shifting her directly into his sore but muscular arms. She smiled against his neck and could hear his heartbeat steady and slow. " Hey, Mione why don't you have a nickname for me. I mean Harry is wonder boy and you're always Mione or Herms. So what about me eh am I just chopped liver," he said the last bit with a fake sniff which sent her into hysterical giggles. A few minutes later after she'd had a good laugh she though of why she'd never given him a nickname. " I dunno Ron guess I never though about it before. I've got one though whadya think of lionheart eh mr. chopped liver?" " lionheart, " he said outloud as if testing it out to see if he agreed with it or not. " I think that fits perfectly mione" She stayed snuggled in his arms for quite a while longer as they talked about different things and as they parted at the dormitory staircases much later he leaned over and kissed her forehead gently mumuring," my mione," when she reached the top of her staircase she called down, " Goodnight lionheart." No one but them ever knew where the nickname had come from and she'd never given it a second thought, it had been her's and her's alone special name for him.

Hermionie stirred from a haunting memory, she'd never been able to get that night out of her head. Sighing she refocused she coudln't let him into her mind or he would take over in a not so pretty way. Leaning over to turn off her alarm clock the reason for her being up long before the sun would rise over Hogwarts. Getting up quickly she reached for her wand waved it twice above her head and was ready to go her hair was set into tight braids and she wore a knee length skirt and t-shirt, her robes were folded in her bag which she grabbed on her way down the dormitory steps. She hurried off to the Hospital Wing and was there for a half hour before rushing down to the kitchens and grabbing an apron of the a peg near the entrance wall, her day began. The elves and Hermione bustled around the kitchen preparing for the breakfast rush which wouldn't be quite so bad as it was a saturday. A few elves and Hermiopne were already setting out the things to start lunch a few hours later. She stood in a corner at about 8:00 am catching her breath as she chatted away with a small female elf.

" So missus hermioness hows is you doings today?" the kindly elf asked her nodding away at a few other and wiping her brow in the same breath. Hermione smiled slowly , " Quite alright Rose, just catching my breath." The elves had ceased a fair while ago to try and disuade hermionie not to work in the kitchens she personally wondered if it had something to do with Dumbledore speaking with them or not. A few hours later she was out on the ground enjoying the sunshine. The leaves were cascading around as she headed down to Hagrids. he'd remained true through all of this and was her greatest ally. On her way down the path coming out of Hagrid's hut was none other than him and Harry. They fixed her with a loathing look once reserved only for Malfoy. Hagrid called out to her, " I'll be ina minute mione I've gotta go get Fang away from me pumpkins". She nodded and headed past them but with rough shove was psuhed to the ground by Ron. Falling hard Hermione tried to catch her breath coughing hard she felt the world spin. Mutterings behind her were fading out the horrible jokes were barely a whisper now. Something poured from her mouth in the last cough. Ron and Harry saw it hit the ground, red and sticky it was blood. Hermione collapsed in a pool of blood still dripping from her open mouth. hagrid had come running at the distant sight of Hermione falling and...

Cliffie I know, muhahahhaaha hjack hack hack. I'll update soon and review at will flames will be sent to the customer service desk which has been opperation since never.


	3. Darkness overwehlming me

Hey everyone je suis desolse. Or in other words I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this is another flashback chapter and the next will be up very soon possibly even today. Sorry I've neglected you lot there's just been going on I'm Cat and may the story begin…………………

Christmas. The castle rang with it in every corridor and classroom. The students were on their first day of break for the holidays. Hermione who had spent the entire previous night finishing up all of her assignments was sitting staring into the snow. Out of no where she felt arms encircle her and lift her up spinning her to face Ron who was wet from a fierce snow battle with his sister and Harry. Grinning they sat down for him to dry before the fire and to sip at some cocoa. Hermione's eyes drifted into the fire she had a feeling and she simply couldn't shake it _something was coming_. Throwing that out of her mind she shifted back to look at Ron. Her lion heart as she had privately called him for sometime. He made her feel a thousand things she'd never felt before but how could she tell him? He was her best friend; he was also her best friend with a girlfriend. As if on cue, in walked Lavender Brown who in Hermione's eyes wasn't nearly good enough for Ron. He deserved the absolute best and she sighed sadly knowing that, that best would never be her. Forcing a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes she watched as Lavender walked into the common room she headed straight up to the dormitories and seemed to be avoiding Ron. Hermione turned to him a little put out and confused." Ron what was up with Lavender eh lion heart?" she asked casually a lump had formed in her throat and she didn't know from whence it had come. He shrugged heavily and sighed facing her his eyes seemed clouded over a little, " Mione I caught her with bloody Seamus Finnigan the other day. We split simple as that." He said it in such a final way that she could feel the anger and hurt welling up inside him. She waved her wand allowing her cup to float over to a table along with Ron's empty one. Reaching out she pulled him into her arms and wrapped them securely around him as if to convey though everyone else might desert him she was still standing right there. Ron murmured quietly, "You know you're my best friend, right?" Hermione began to think bitterly _yeah just your best friend_ swallowing hard she replied, "yea I know." Ron sighed and shifted so he could meet her eyes, "Here's the thing though mione when I found Lavender with Seamus she said part of her reason was that there was someone else in my life." She looked startled and was prepared to accept the answer that he would invariably give her, he would simply start talking about another girl it was never her and it never would be, right? "Who is it Ron," she choked out." "You."

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The memories spun rapidly around Hermione's mind as the darkness enclosed her. She felt like she was floating, spinning in a world of long forgotten memories and a feeling she'd felt like she'd lost, _love._ Hagrid had come running at the sight of Hermione on the ground. He'd nearly blanched when he saw her blood spattered on the gravel. Staring hard at her he sighed deeply before stretching his right arm out to the utter bewilderment of Ron and Harry, he muttered something and in a burst of fire Fawkes appeared. Hagrid caught Fawkes on his right arm and muttered deeply, "Get Dumbledore Fawkes and hurry."………………

Review please! It makes my day so my old snowman pillow commands you to. Flames will be used to burn marshmallows and all my bad memories.


	4. What was then and what is now

They ain't mine and that's the facts. Sorry I haven't update my deepest apologies people.

February the fourteenth. Valentines day had come finally and the entire castle was buzzing about with the thrill of the weekend ahead of them. Most couples were inseparable cheerfully planning a wonderful weekend between the two of them. Hermione stared out into the grounds just beyond her reach it seemed from the tall dormitory window. Over there she saw his silhouette he was sitting so quietly it seemed he'd been turned to stone, he was barely veiled beneath one of the trees on the edge of the forest. Worlds had separated them for over a year and she had never truly grasped how deeply she was alone until days like these. Days devoted to friends and loved ones even your family that half the year you wanted to curse out the ying yang. It was a Friday and most couples were anticipating the dance later that night in honor of the day or going into Hogsmeade the next day. Sighing she turned back to what she had been doing glaring at her dress as though she could become angry enough with it to make it disappear. She had to be out of her mind, what she was planning was idiotic she knew but still. It was always worth one last shot, one last try. Slumping onto her bed she allowed her memory to fill her with visions of nearly a year ago...

_The words that had escaped his mouth could destroy everything they'd ever had. He'd just told her she was the one Lavender had referred to about him being in love with. Hermione hadn't moved an inch this had to be a joke she though desperately some silly joke. She looked up into those deep pools of a luminescent blue and found no sense of joking in them but the most honest and earnest love she'd ever seen. She felt herself falling into the blue letting go of every wall she'd ever held in that one instant. She opened her mouth to say something and for once found her words to be so inadequate. Leaning over gently she brought her lips to meet Ron's. Ron could have died and he'd have never known. Kissing her back gently and pulling her body closer to his he letting her know everything his heart had ever needed to say in a single instant._

Hermione sighed as her eyes reluctantly opened and she scanned the room realizing she'd been dozing all that time. standing she headed into the showers drawing up every ounce of courage in her body. Standing in her room she surveyed her dress one last time before taking the deepest breath, the last breath before the plunge. Walking through the Halls she headed into the Great hall and quickly made her way to the sign up sheet for the free karaoke. Quite a while later Professor Flitwick came to the front after the last act and announced in his chirpy voice that Hermione Granger would be up next. Making her way through the dark and crowded room she reached the stage. She stood in the spotlight and searched for him, her eyes were fixated with his. To Ron she looked like an angel in the clingy halter top style indigo blue dress. The song began to play slowly and Hermione's mouth opened it was the first time anyone had ever heard her sing. It was truly like the voice of an angel from heaven. The entire room was looking at her but she had eyes only for Ron. The words to the song nearly broke his heart in two they were so true to both of them.

Ocean's apart day after day  
And I slowly go insane  
I hear your voice on the line  
But it doesn't stop the pain

If I see you next to never  
How can we say forever

Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you  
Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks  
I will be right here waiting for you

I took for granted, all the times  
That I thought would last somehow  
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears  
But I can't get near you now

Oh, can't you see it baby  
You've got me going crazy

Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you  
Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks  
I will be right here waiting for you

I wonder how we can survive  
This romance  
But in the end if I'm with you  
I'll take the chance

Oh, can't you see it baby  
You've got me going crazy

Wherever you go  
Whatever you do  
I will be right here waiting for you  
Whatever it takes  
Or how my heart breaks  
I will be right here waiting for you.

The lights dimmed as she stepped off the stage to thunderous applause. Exiting quickly she made her way out to the gardens. Standing in the moonlight just beneath a willow tree she seemed to Ron to give off an ethereal glow that surrounded her making her in every way forbidden fruit. He'd come to stand behind her and they both were very aware of the other. His eyes were full and his heart lay heavy in his chest. Hermione turned to him her eyes brimming with a thousand emotions and it was the first time Ron had seen her eyes alive in nearly a year. She leaned closer to him as he struggled to find the words to say. He wanted to apologize, he wanted to say a thousand times how much he loved her, but it all died in his heart when her eyes met his one last time. She walked as close to him as possible and brought his forehead down to her and gently laid a last kiss there. " Happy valentines day lionheart," was all she said and all she'd had to say. Fading into the background she disappeared like a shadow as though the former Hermione had come alive only for those few seconds and only for his eyes to see. Sitting he opened the package he hadn't noticed before and Ron nearly cried out right at it. It was a miniature double C entwined with a book he could have sworn said Hogwarts a history. Reading the card brought tears to his eyes. "_Right here waiting"_

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Dumbledore appeared in a brilliant flash of blue light and stalked the last few feet between where he'd appeared to Hermione's body. Squatting to the gravel he checked her pulse and could feel it slowing. Staring at Hagrid he whipped out his wand and muttered a few unintelligible words. Turning to Hagrid his blue eyes blazing with an inner anger and fire they'd never seen before he said as calmly as one could in a voice like ice, " take her to Poppy she'll know what to do." With that he levitated Hermione's body onto the stretcher and turned watching Hagrid disappear up the path. Turning back to Ron and Harry who had gotten over their shock and had returned to looking disdainful and scornful his eyes blazed further. Dumbledore stated merely one word, " Follow." After sharing a shrug they sullenly caught back up to him having to jog to keep up with his fast pace. nearly all the students were in the Great hall for dinner so they made their wat easily through the abandoned corridors and up winding staircases to Dumbledore's office. He stood outside waiting for them. With a sweep of his cloak he headed off up the stairs. Standing in his office minutes later he gestured for them to sit as two chintz chairs settled down out of the air. The door closed with a snap...


	5. Memories and flickers of dying emotions ...

Hey everyone I am _trying_ to consistently update. Disclaimer is simple I don't own them and wouldn't it be scary if I did.

Dumbledore's fury seemed larger than life and palpable as they both sat heavily in the chintz chairs he had made appear in the room. Dumbledore himself sat down with a sigh before both of them on the edge of his desk. Both Harry and Ron were very familiar with this office after all they had gotten into trouble and been sent here enough times to have it memorized. He stared hollowly at the both of them as if he wasn't quite sure who they were to even begin with. His mouth opened slowly and his voice made him sound older than either of them had ever heard him sound. "Explain to me Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley why you were the only two standing over an unconscious Hermione Granger. Might I add that she was lying there in a pool of obviously her own blood?"

They looked at him then shared a look between themselves and seemed to be deciding who should speak first. Harry shifted slightly in the chintz chair and turned to further face Dumbledore his bright green eyes were dulled from anger and other emotions that swirled like a myriad in his eyes. "She was coming down the path as we were leaving from hagrid's. Hagrid told her that he would be back in a moment and that he needed to get Fang out of his garden. She continued down the path a little towards us." Here he stopped and shifted his eyes back to Ron who took a deep breath and continued the story, "We made a joke at her and jokingly shoved into her. She fell really hard and started to cough and after a minute or so she started to cough up blood and she passed out at that point. She'd been out for a few seconds when Hagrid showed back up and called Fawkes and then you. That's the entire story sir." Dumbledore didn't know what to say to the boys part of him wanted to tell them the truth and to set the record straight the other half of him wanted to punish them for what they had done. Settling on a mixture of the two he replied to their stares, "You both have detention this week and next weekend. No discussions Mr. Weasley this is not optional. I would ask that you leave Ms. Granger alone for the remainder of your stay at Hogwarts. That is all you may leave."

Dumbledore rose and waved his right arm allowing the door to fly open easily. Moments later they exited the oddly decorated and even junkier office than it had been in previous years. Ron waited till Harry had already left standing there for a moment longer than necessary, he turned back to face Dumbledore and his eyes betrayed a slight guilt and more that Dumbledore could only guess as to what it was , " Will she be all right Professor?" He stared back at Ron his quizzical blue eyes meeting eyes just as vibrant as his with just as many questions. "I do not know the answer to that question Mr. Weasley."

Ron left no happier than when he had entered into the office. A tiny part of him wanted to rush off to the Hospital Wing and apologize a thousand and one times to Hermione to pledge his undying love for all eternity but as none of those options were plausible he refrained from them and decided on a long walk near the forest's edge, as being the best thing for him. Harry had walked through the winding corridors his mind lost elsewhere. After finally making his way to the common room he headed in and paused momentarily as he scanned the room looking for Ron. Finding him missing he started to head to the front couches but spotting another Weasley a more feminine one he declined. Ginny was snuggling with some bloke that Harry had never seen before it was making his stomach turn so he headed quickly up the winding stairs to his bed to lay down. As he entered the room he stopped to consider that nothing had really changed in appearance in this room for years. Yes, occasionally a poster might be changed or so but other than that it all looked the same as it had all those years ago it seemed. Harry opened his curtains to the four poster he'd called his bed for years and fell willingly into the softness of the sheets. He closed his eyes allowing himself to fall back through all the painful memories that he'd hidden for years.

_Ginny _the single word brought up a million memories and feelings from the shy little girl he'd saved from Tom Riddle to the gorgeous woman he had fallen in love with. He thought back to all the beautiful memories they'd shared together including the first time he told her that he loved her with his whole heart and soul.

_Ginny and Harry were seated in the fore couch of the Gryffindor common room talking in low tones and watching the fire slowly die before them. He held her in his arms reveling in the feeling of holding her firmly against him and feeling her warmth radiate through his body. He started to say something but a part of him however small was loathe to end the comfortable silence between them but he knew in a corner of his heart it was the right time to tell her. They hadn't been dating long in the least bit but as far as Harry was concerned he'd loved her in silence for years. He whispered the words to her quietly and she shifted to look into his eyes trying to see for herself if what she'd just heard was real or merely her imagination. She was met with burning green eyes alight with first and truest love. She smiled a watery smile and heard him say for one more time the most precious words to her, "I love you."_

If only life had been so kind as to allow them to stay in that wonderful moment but reality was slightly more bitter to the taste. Harry could recall there many rows with perfect clarity. She was jealous and how could she not be he did spend a lot of time in Hermione's presence but it had never occurred to him how much that could hurt Ginny. Harry had seen for the first time then the depth to which his love's insecurities had truly gone. Yes, Ginny had been loved her entire life but she'd never been loved in the way Harry loved her and she was frightened of losing him to someone else. He had understood entirely and had set about to correct it until that fateful night.

_Coming in sore and tired from a rough batch of brutal practices he was muddy and bruised. Quickly making his way up to change he came make down the stairs gingerly and moments later settled into a comfy half of a couch enjoying the warmth of the fire compared to the bitter chill of November nights. Only then did he realize that Hermione was the other occupant of the couch and it was obvious to Harry that she had been crying and rather heavily at that. Best friend to the rescue that he was he scooted closer to her. "Hey herms what's wrong," he asked softly. He knew that she and Ron had broken up not that long ago and that it had shattered a part of Hermione entirely. I there was anything else that could have had her that upset he didn't know what it was and he was rather afraid to ask. She tried to smile through the falling tears, "Nothing wonder boy I'll be fine." Not taking that for an answer he pulled her closer wrapping his arms around her in a gesture of big brotherly love. Only a few minutes later did Ginny walk in and to her, her worst nightmare had come true. She wouldn't listen to reason and refused to speak to Harry at all. She felt betrayed and he just grew angry at everyone. _

Nothing had ever been solved from there he though bitterly. He and Ron had stayed friends and Ginny was still keeping her distance. Harry and Ron had at that point turned on Hermione and become as brutal to her as possible. Harry no longer had cared whether it was logical or not to blame Hermione. He had simply begun to blame her and she had quietly allowed them too. He'd watched from afar a part of his heart aching to see his once best friend hurting so badly. Harry might never admit it to anyone but he'd seen how much Hermione had just slowly died within. He'd seen the pain hiding in her eyes and he could see how alone in the world she'd become. She had no friends because everyone in the school had blamed her for splitting Harry and Ginny up in the first place. As Harry drifted off to sleep his dream were littered with haunting images of Hermione though his mind was to tired to determine whether they were past, present, or possibly future.

Lying still in a sterile bed Hermione drifted through old memories in her heart. She was lying still as though she was only sleeping. She felt like she was walking a long and narrow lane she'd never seen before and was becoming lost in the mist. She bitterly and despairingly wondered if she would ever make it home and even if she did, did she truly have a home anymore?

End chappie

AN: So another one bites the dust. Next chapter we'll go into what's going to happen to Hermione and the next chapter will be very long since it will tell in further detail a lot of the flashbacks. Soon the plot will thicken immensely. Has anyone else noticed this has all (all the present actions I mean) taken place in the span of like three days? Good I suppose, that'll mean a very long story over all because I'm spanning the year and a bit further on. Blah review at will, my stuffed trowa will bite you. Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and burn bad pictures of me.


	6. justifying the Reason

Hi everyone deep, deep, gomen nasis. I'm soooo sorry but my computer has completely been on the absolute fritz. I've actually written the next few chapters and I'm giving them to my friend who owns this account so she can post them for me. I'll try to continue my story as best I can. We get into the real stuff that happened that night so flash backs and junk.

Review at will I make it a point not to ask of others what I don't usually do, so review only if you want to.

Disclaimer: Sadly they are not mine though I wouldn't mind buying one hmmmm...

Her breath came slowly, painfully ,she was no longer breathing on her own anymore. Sometime late in the night she had collapsed further into a deep sleep the doctors feared to call a coma. She hadn't moved an inch since her body had been lain in the sterile white bed with unflenching sheets of beige. The entire room was a sickly and unnatural color reeking of death and sickness without the slightest twinge of cheerfulness to permeate the room. The hair that for years had been yanked into precise buns and braids never giving away its actual length or even what it looked like down was lying scattered across her pillow unkempt and as frail as her body looked. The once sparkling eyes were hidden beneath eyelids that might never open to see the light of another day.

Deep in her own mind Hermione was seated on a scarlet park bench watching the auburn and gold leaves set ablaze the setting sky. A tall oynx iron post was beside her shedding its pale light in the growing gloom. She was waiting for someone, but she honestly wasn't sure who she was waiting for. It felt werid she mused it was like she knew she shouldn't be here but she didn't have the strength left to leave. Looking down the path that seemed to twist and turn in every possible direction privately she wondered which would lead her home but she couldn't formulate a picture of what home meant anymore to her. Hermione felt the first tear in so long she could barely remember its feel as a single crystal tear slipped down moistening her cheek. It felt silly to be sitting there and crying but she refrained from chiding herself in some deep part of her heart she knew she had lost something so beloved and precious it had shattered what was left of her but what was it she wondered?

Dawn rose benignly over Hogwarts spreading her fingertips of crimson and golden light through the castle. Ron and Harry both had spent a restless night neither of them could get their consciences to give them a rest. Both had been haunted by frightening pictures of Hermione drifting through their most peaceful dreams a clear reminder of what they had done to her. They each dragged themselves from bed and showered without the slightest thought as to what they were doing, the next morning. _Sunday_ the word spoke of peace and quiet but neither boy felt anywhere near that. Harry nodded dumbly when Ron said something about his heading down to Hagrid's for an early cup of tea.

Ron walked lasily through the empty corridors and out onto the grounds. Autumn was in the air as leaves began to cover the dying grass in their emblazoned hues forming a picturesque look across all he could see. Seeing the black smoke curl homily from hagrid's hut filled Ron with a sense of peace, that he knew he hadn't felt in a lot longer than he would have been willing to admit. Knocing sharply with a few raps of his knuckles on the wooden door of the hut brought a gruff answer from within. " Come in," opening the gigantic door with ease Ron slid into the room taking a quick view around it.

Seating himself easily into one of the rocking chairs that littered the room he rocked cozily wrapped in a rather ugly plaid blanket for a few minutes before hagrid spoke again. " Yer wanta cupa tea Ron?". His answer was short not out of irritation or anger but for the lack of anything better to say. " Sure hagrid," was all he could think of to say. Hagrid's movements were the only sound in the tiny cabin besides the crackle of the fire in the stone hearth, that Ron found himself drawn into his eyes staring hard as though an answer would appear there. Hagrid sat heavily onto the even uglier couch and sighed deeper than Ron had ever heard him before.

A tiredness was reflected in Hagrid's eyes that Ron felt he must have somehow missed for far too long. Hagrid sat there seeming to struggle with what he wanted to say. Drawing a heavy breath he spoke in a gruff and uneven tone," Why did yer do it Ron?" Ron wanted to justify everything, to make it seem understandable, however, he was finding his task harder than he had first percieved it to be. Sucking in another breath that he found hard to find to begin with his mouth opened and he just stopped. How did he begin to explain to Hagrid the miles of distance between Mione and himself. Summoning up his courage he started and what a long tale it was to tell.

"Hagrid it all started a year ago...

_Ron remembered the day like a snap shot in his own mind that didn't ever seem to want to leave him alone._

_Quidditch practice had been brutally hard, he'd didn't remember ever being quite this sore. A younger girl had succeeded Katie as captain. Her name was Alia and to say she was slave driving them over the upcoming match with Slytherin was the understatment of the century. They had run every possible play that every single one of them knew atleast ten times. Rolling his eyes he hoped Hermione had stayed up, all Ron wanted was to make it up to the tower at the moment. However, when he got there he had every intention of sneaking his girlfriend up to his room to cuddle. He'd missed Hermione so much in the past few days they'd only seen each other in class._

_So if you knew Hermione that was like not seeing her at all, Ron didn't mind her attenion span but he usually perferred it in a context that involved him and Hermione being alone. Climbing the last few stairs slowly from his weariness he faced the fat lady with a look that rather melted her heart. Smiling a little he spoke the password, "Penguin's feather," and with that she swung forward to reveal a very diffrent scene than the one he had hoped for._

_Ginny stood infront of the fireplace and Ron could feel from the doorway her obvious pain. Scrambling into the hole he surveyed what was going on. Ginny stood across from Harry and Hermione was seated on the fore couch watching them like it was a tennis match as blow by blow them ripped each other apart._

_"How could you Harry? I specifically asked you not to do this." Her voice sounded broken and filled with a pain never seen there before, there was no anger just pain seeping from her voice and her very soul._

_"Damnit Gin I wasn't doing anything but hugging my best friend why is that such a damn problem for you. Do you have no trust or faith in me?" Harry on the other hand was angry at the accusation being thrown at him._

_"No Harry, I did trust you and tonight you broke that trust entirely there is no going back." He was confused what was she saying?_

_"Ginny, can we talk about this please?" His tone was begging, he was pleading with her with all his heart and soul. She stood firmly as she spoke one more time._

_"No Harry I've said everything I needed to, I want you to know that I loved you very deeply but this is over." Ron watched in that moment what was left of Harry's heart break into a million pieces. Harry couldn't begin to process the words he had lost her and it was already eating away at him._

_With that Ginny climbed the stairs to her dormitory room and left three very speechless people below her. Ron was barely in the doorway and was beyond confused. He decided not to announce his presence just yet and to wait another minute in the shadows to see how things would play out. Hermione rose from the couch sadly even Ron could feel her pain for Harry he assumed. She reached out her arm in what Ron tried to justify was a sisterly affection. Harry spun towards her and Ron couldn't identify the look in his eyes it was such a mirad of emotions._

_"Harry give her time she'll cool off and realize what a fool she's being." Her tone was caring, far to caring and Ron felt the room was heating up on him._

_"No Hermione I don't think all the time in the world will help her." His voice sounded more broken than anyone in that room had ever heard it to be._

_Ron felt like he was watching his best friend crumble, Harry sort of crumpled to the couch and Ron heard him say so softly, "I truly loved her you know." Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry and leaned him back against her. Ron felt the heat begin to rise in his collar even more. Here was his best friend and his girlfriend and he couldn't exactly say they were staying within the borders of friendship. When Hermione began to caress Harry's face a part of Ron snapped that he was not even fully aware of. He announced his presence by marching up to them and saying,_

_"So this was why my sister was so damn upset. I see you two are getting rather chumy hmm. Care to explain?" his tone was laced with anger and even a hint of bitterness._

_Harry stood and looked him square in the face before Hermione could say anything, "Look if you plan to be a damn prat go ahead but I'm too tired for your bull shit. I'm going to bed." Harry stomped off to the dormitory that he knew he would have to continue sharing with Ron._

_Ron turned on Hermione with sharp effiency, "So why were you so cozy with him eh?'_

_Hermione's face was impassive,"If you're accusing me of cheating on you with Harry you're an utter prat and idiot. Secondly I was waiting on you but Harry came up first.."_

_At this point Ron cut her off mid sentence,"What so you thought you'd get in a little extra time with him before I got here is that it. You know what I think my sister had the right idea it's over and that's that."_

_Hermione's eyes flashed something for a half second but it passed and Ron was almost unsure he had even seen anything at all. She merely nodded and watched him storm off in suite to his dormitory room._

_It had all gone down hill from there. The next day Ron had twisted Harry so far to his side they just about disowned Hermione in a letter not quite having the guts to say all that in person. It had been one nasty letter and Ron hated to think of it._

Hagrid had listened to his story thus far and was ready to start saying something and as a matter of fact he had a number of things to say to Ron...

end chappie

Antoher one bites the dust. Ciao for now. Hermione is probably going to wake up pretty soon. Next chapter Ron begins to find out a number of things from hagrid.


	7. Speaking

AN: Major gomen nassai everyone. I promise to finish this story, I promise to finish this story. Oh and no there is no Hagrid/ Hermione romance going on, they are just really good friends. Notice some account changes everybody, so blah! Enjoy…..

Disclaimer: they just aren't mine…..huff……

Hagrid sat clutching his tea cup with massive hands in anger. He tried to release his grip but only managed to anger himself further. Trying to be calm, telling him to think Hermione had always told Hagrid that. He brought in a ragged breath doing his best to keep from exploding in absolute anger at Ron.

He stood deserting the cup so as not to break it, or the other person at the table. He almost chocked on the words that came bumbling out. "Do ye not know what ye did to 'er?" He kept staring out into the gardens and beyond. He saw what she had seen the many times she'd come down here. Hagrid turned back too Ron the sadness in his eyes telling a greater story than his most eloquent of words ever could.

Ron shrugged lacking the effort needed to truly care about the brokenness he had bestowed upon this singular person. He spoke with a tone of such indifference, "she got what she deserved Hagrid, nothing more or less." Hagrid's entire body shook with the effort to contain the anger coursing through him. He hadn't been this angry in a long, long time.

His whole body eeked the palpable sense of violence contained beneath the skin. He turned sharply on Ron bellowing out at him, "She n'ere deserved any of 'te hell you lot put her through. If ye believe that Ron than ter hell with ye. I can't explain it to yer; it ain't my place no way it's hers." Hagrid shifted heavily feeling far too old. The anger still coursed beneath the thick skin of the half giant with a ferocity that was barely containable.

He crossed his small hut throwing open the door with such force it came off the hinges with a loud thunk, he threw the offending piece of wood to the ground. He stomped out of the cabin never needing to take a walk more than at that moment. Ron was left sitting in utter shock at the wooden table. The crisp autumn air invaded the tiny hut. It invaded every inch of Ron with a cold he somehow inadvertently knew was so much deeper.

He shrugged heavily rising from the rough hewn table. He laid his cup softly on the table not bothering to clean up after the two of them. He snatched his cloak from the edge of the despicably ugly couch. Stomping out onto the ground he forced his way past the bitter cascading wind back up the castle. He dwelt on the things Hagrid had said. Had she really deserved the things they had done to her. Was it all really and truly worth it in the end. Had he stopped loving Hermione in the first place?

Hagrid tramped his way through the forbidden forest his anger bubbling over. Hermione would have been proud he thought bitterly that he hadn't torn Ron limb from limb. Gods did he want to smack some sense into the boy. He was losing something so precious and he refused to see it. He refused to see the nightmare he was living, the nightmare of his own making. He would not see what he had done to her. Hagrid knew Hermione didn't have a lot of time left. He had wanted so much more for the book warmish girl who had softened his heart.

He remembered her third year and how they had really become true friends. His mind swirled around him as he tramped on letting his feet lead him to a quiet clearing deep within the forest. He hardly registered that he was unarmed and leaving a path of destruction nearly a mile wide. He didn't care at that moment it just didn't seem important.

When he was finally seated in the clearing not bothering to look about for anyone or anything; He leaned his back onto an ages old oak that soared so high he could hardly see its top even at his height. This particular tree was one of the few he could lean on with out crushing them beneath his weight. He remembered in the cool darkness of that autumn day.

_She had sent an owl not long after that first big fight. The tawny school owl made its way down to hagrid's in the wee hours of the morning. He'd already been up with Buckbeak for a few hours. The note held her overly neat handwriting asking ever so politely if he minded greatly if she came down during her lunch to see him and Buckbeak. He had scrawled back his answer sending the tawny flying into the air._

_She had come that mid morning; she came bearing more notes and such for Buckbeak's appeal. Hagrid had seen the beginnings of it then, the tiredness that would plague her for a very long time. She had sat in front of his fire snuggling in a blanket of his watching the flames dance sipping softly on her tea. He hadn't pressed her to tell him why it was just her; she hadn't seemed up to it then. It would be weeks later that she finally sat in front of that fire tears spilling down her face that he learned the truth. He had wanted to storm off to the castle the minute after she had said it._

_He knew Hermione would give him nothing but the cold hard facts; it was a blatant part of her personality. He had sat there listening doing the one thing no one else in her life had ever seemed to have the time to do. Over the next few weeks and months he learned so much more about her. It was like meeting Hermione for the very first time._

_She was so much warmer and kinder than almost anyone would ever know. She found such a solace in that cabin; it was something they both had deeply in common. He fondly remembered her reading to him one of her favorite muggle stories. Hermione taught him to control his anger so much better than he had ever been able to._

_Even after the trio had made up she still kept coming always making the spare time to see him. He had cried so softly when she came that early morning. She came with the news of the destruction of her so carefully built little world. She had handed him the letter from her supposed two best friends. She was sitting in front of that fire when it all came spilling out, the deaths of her parents, the letter, and the last most gruesome detail, the knowledge that she was dying. She knew it in some part of her soul that she told him she couldn't explain. _

_He laid his trash can sized hands on her shoulders softly. He had stood behind her knowing that he had found the greatest friend in the world and that she was going to be leaving him. Hagrid had sat so quietly in the absolute darkness of his cabin later that night. He had been so tired, tired of always being the one left alive. They never spoke of those things again; in all truth they hadn't said much in those last few weeks before her last collapse. There was nothing else to be said, nothing else to be done but face the coming dawn together. He had sworn to her he would never leave her alone and they both knew it was the truth. _

Hermione was still sitting in the park somberly. She was still confused but she felt deep somewhere in her heart that she needed to get up and start down one of the paths. She couldn't sit on the park bench forever. Starring into the darkness before her she willed herself to keep going. Into the mist she walked through it and kept going. The tiredness that had long plagued here returned ten fold in those moments. She wanted to stop but she needed to keep gong. At the edge of the path she had taken was a brilliant light, it hung about her in shades of burnt crimson.

He eyes opened so slowly, painfully slowly. She was laying a bed somewhere. She could feel she had been moved while asleep as if some part of her knew this was not the first bed she had lain in. Her body began to register the dull grey paint on the walls, the thick quilt covering her. She couldn't feel any sterility to the room, she had a strong hunch she was in an Order safe house. Rolling onto her side was painful but doable. She rolled onto her left side watching with fascination at the burnt crimson light playing through the shadows of some tree; it danced beneath the heavy off white drapes. She snuggled deeply into the warmth the bed offered her so willingly. She drifted off to sleep, a more natural sleep, and a healing sleep.

She never noticed the other presence in the room. Dumbledore stood sentry in the dark corner off to the right of the bed. He would stay here until she awoke…

Muhahahahah I finally updated. Brownie point for me. Please believe me I am going to finish this story! Blah have a good Saturday, Cat out.

P.s. I don't care if you review but it is nice to see that once in a while, don't look at me it's an author thing.


	8. the space in between

AN: well everybody here is the next installment. Enjoy….

Disclaimer: not mine end of story…

Ron sat hunched before the common room fires. He wasn't even bothering to sit on a couch or a chair. He sat hunched on the carpeted stone trying so desperately to become warm. It took merely a single look at Harry as he came down the stairs from the dormitories that Hagrid was wrong. He shook himself almost violently needing it to brush away the doubts forming webs across his soul.

He rubbed his hands together one more time before rising off the floor. He and Harry nodded to each other needing no words. They both plunked themselves down on the burnt crimson couch nearest the fire. The sat in silence each a prisoner to their own thoughts.

For the second time that day Hermione awoke to the quiet grey room swathed in shadows. She shifted slightly beneath the delicious warmth of the blue-grey quilt with only the slightest pangs of pain rippling across her. As her chocolate eyes became adjusted to the gloom she was able to discern that it was definitely sometime in the middle of the night. Her body tried to calculate the passage of time but failed miserably. A shuffling in the darkened corner of the room caused her to take a sharp intake of breath. The room seemed to instantly glow with a kind of light she knew only magic could produce.

Dumbledore stood before her with a look that seemed to plead for forgiveness. He shuffled closer to her bed in the half gloom. The large candelabra he had conjured in the silence floated to a suitable place in the ceiling. With his right hand he waved to the empty space and a plush chintz chair plopped itself next to her bed. He seated himself in the plush flump of a thing with a grace she was sure could never be learned. The heartrending smile that cast his features in such twisted displays of light and dark appeared across the expanses of his face.

"I wish I had better news for you Hermione…" he seemed so genuinely sorry for it to. She smiled weakly it was all she had left, that last little bit of energy borne of sheer stubbornness. She knew she was too weak to speak and she knew that he knew as well. He kept himself from sighing before her; it wouldn't have done to ruin that beautiful smile not for the world. He reached for her hand feeling how flimsy the appendage was in his fingertips. She gave her hand willingly as if she knew everything he was straining to say. As if he needn't say a thing to her but if he would just simply sit with her awhile yet.

They sat in the silence as it filled her with a peace she had never truly believed in. a peace she had but prayed for from the moment of understanding. The silence wasn't heavy or thick with sorrow or regrets; in its own way it was light, warm and comforting. It was like a perfect autumn day, cool and warm, light and dark, dawn to dusk. He sat for how long he did not know, in those precious moments it simply didn't matter.

The passage of time seemed so irrelevant and to worry over such trivial things seemed so irreverent to the young woman lying before him. Hermione lay in the comforting peace as the pain swept over her in waves. She could feel every nuance of it; she could feel herself drowning beneath it. Time was growing far too short for anyone's liking. Her body grew too heavy for her and she met Dumbledore's eyes across the ever growing gap before them. Her eyes closed with a sense of serenity borne only from those who knew their last moments and had absolutely accepted their fate.

He held that hand for just a little longer. He laid it beneath the covers tucking her in like a grandfather does to their sleepy grandchild when they are young. He lingered a moment too long watching the rise and fall of her chest. He knew the conclusion was just beyond the corner.

Ron hadn't bothered to remove any of his clothing. He sat there like a frozen statue before the fire in full cloak and gloves. Harry finally turned to him as if seeing it all for the very first time. His voice came out choked for reasons beyond him, "How did it go or should I even ask?" He let the question hang in the air around them; they both were ignoring the dim sounds of the other students. Ron turned back to Harry, "You shouldn't ask."

With that Ron finally realized how absurd he must look to everyone. He started himself dully making his way to the dormitory they had shared for years. He changed and came back like a new man. A man far more sure of his standings in the world. He offered his hand to Harry in a gesture symbolically helping his friend up from the burnt crimson couch.

"We ought to go practice a bit more, we need it you know." Harry seemed to understand his meaning ad any passerby would have merely thought they were referring to Quidditch. Harry nodded and they both strode from the common room with sharp and sure steps. Ginny stood on the landing up above them caught staring in her own opinion. She sighed, climbing back to her room and back to the life she had chosen.

With quick strides they headed to the room of requirement. Which they both knew would be in one of the more obscure hallways on the upper floors. They were there in less time than either had thought possible. Not a soul had stopped them but there had hardly been enough people to fill a decent sized classroom wandering the halls on this Sunday.

The room of requirement's entrance would have appeared to anyone else to be nothing more than a life size painting of a dumpy grey looking witch. Everything was so ordinary on her that it became extraordinary. She had been easy to miss in life and even after death her painting was no more spectacular. Harry made the sign phoenix across the middle of the portrait. The witch seemed neither bothered nor surprised by his movements. She swung forward with absolutely no noise which was once more extraordinary for any painting.

The room was of an even size being about the comparative size of a rather large classroom. It was filled with dummies and a few wardrobes that held beasties only Harry and Ron knew were in the castle. They spent the next few hours firing off spell after spell. They fought all manner of beasts that the room threw into their midst. They fought together as one a feat that few could have accomplished. Without Hermione there they moved as one. They had every intention of facing Voldemort down just the two of them.

Months after the falling out and disownment of Hermione they had sat down together. Ron had been incredibly blunt to Harry. He had always known Harry would have to face old Voldie at one point or another. It could go no other way. He doubted that he would truly fight that last battle with Harry but he'd be damned if her didn't try too.

They had begun to practice and hone their skills. They had learned to fight as one each relying upon the other wholly. The bond between them had intensified so deeply they were forged together in a way no other person could have ever understood.

They knew the battle was coming. They knew it was making its way ever closer. Each prayed fervently that the battle would be stayed till they could at least graduate but neither truly believed that Voldemort would wait that long. They read the daily prophet they knew the battles were raging closer and closer to this stone fortress. They both knew in some deep part of themselves that it would all end upon these grounds. There was no other way for it to end, it had begun here and so it would end.

Worn thin from the hours of practice they made their way sluggishly back to the Gryffindor common room and the relative safety it offered. They walked in companionable silence each knowing much of what the other was thinking. They were both feeling so much but so much of it could never be expressed. They each wondered profoundly in their cores about the choices they had made. They stopped not far from the common room. Each turned to the other in unison speaking at the same time, "Look there's no turning back lets do this together mate."

With a nod they entered the common room together. Ron would head off to bed straight after entering nodding to his sister who was seated in a far off corner. Harry could not at first work up his courage to cross the space between them. He went to a far off window sill looking out in the inky blackness as deep as the despair that often crawled across his soul. The distance was barely feet but it felt like miles. He sighed deeply dragging himself off to bed, unspoken words burning on his tongue.

I hoped you liked, review if you feel like it. I have nothing else to say so blah!


	9. the final steps

AN: We're in the final stretch ladies and gents… Enjoy

Disclaimer: they just ain't mine more's the pity.

Dawn came far too soon for anyone involved in the events that would follow. Hermione shifted softly eyeing the new visitor to her room. She was unconcerned at the moment with her toiletries but upon recognizing tonks, she had a good feeling where this was headed. Tonks smiled softly at her before speaking, "Yeah they sent me to assist you if you needed to get ready you know." Hermione had not spoken for a very long time just how long she did not know nor did she care. She still did not break her silence but merely nodded.

About an hour later she was leaning heavily upon tonks to re-enter the deliciously grey room. She seated herself on the bed atop the covers lying relaxed. Tonks disappeared out of the room only to return bearing a tray of food. How she had managed the distance without dropping it intrigued Hermione she had a strong suspicion that it had been charmed to refuse to be dropped. Even feet away the delicious aroma of soup wafted towards Hermione reminding her for the first time in ages just how hungry she really was. The tray was placed on her bed across her lap. The tray magically conformed to seat itself above her lap so as she would not bear any of its weight upon her frail body.

She smiled softly at Tonks as she disappeared once more from the room leaving Hermione with her thoughts. The tray bore a thick looking clam chowder and a rather large chunk of her favorite bread. It was completed by a very customary glass of pumpkin juice. She ate in the hush the room bestowed upon her willingly. Her mind wandered to the preparations she had made months ago. It seemed so long ago that she had first begun to write her last letters. Dumbledore had swore to her they would be delivered to all she had written to if it was at all possible. She recorded her thoughts in an inventive way she had conjured up herself. It was something like a cross between a pensive and diary.

She reflected calmly with a slight smirk the very first one she had done. It was in a fit of anger towards Ron towards it all. She recalled in vividly her exact words…

_I was always the sure one you know. I knew where I was headed, who I was. I was ever so certain who I wanted to be of what I wanted to be. I knew the intricate ways the world in which I lived and yet I knew nothing. I had read of dickens and his Tale of Two cities became so literal to me in the later months. The opening page seemed to capture the essence of where I now stood. You were now the sure one. You were ever so certain of where you stood. You knew what you wanted. I in some secret part of my soul despised you for it. You knew you hated me. I can still see the rage burning in your eyes every time ours meet. Forgiveness was something you were always terrible but Hell, so was I. You were certain and I was not something I'll never grow used to, never. I shouldn't be this way, it shouldn't be this way but it is. I still remember you telling me far too often for my taste that if it shouldn't supposed to be this way if it wasn't supposed to be this way then it wouldn't. The world had always been so simple to you. You saw things so black and white, I prayed you always would. _

_I knew nothing and I fully blamed you. I blamed you in some small part of me. In the part of me so broken by what you've done, of you've become. In the part of me you have shattered, I feel these things. Although they do not dominate me by any means, they rarely do ever, they still exist. I opened all I had to you and yet you doubted such a fundamental part of me, of who I was. I was left so unsure of the things before me._

_My heart, my mind could barely comprehend the things you would do to get even. Your anger frightens me for if ever I should find forgiveness within you I fear for what would be. Would I fall again in your esteem, would my fall from grace be so final this time? Would it be the end just like that, I know the answer and I have never been sorrier to know something in all my days. _

_I broke and shattered into a billion more pieces than I thought it was possible to break. But somehow in the darkness I was finding the answers I had so sought. Your forgiveness became a thing of the past. You couldn't, no you wouldn't with every fiber of your being. I had lost you to some imaginary foe that you had brought into existence. Perhaps I share some blame but in comparison to you it is minimal. I know now and I knew then I had done nothing wrong. I pity you for all you lost to something only you could see. I take that back your sister saw the same monster. She saw it in me and for that I am so sorry. She destroyed her greatest chance of happiness in much the same way you did. Hell, the ways were identical except for the aftermath. She retreated you came out roaring in bitter defense. Perhaps the ways in which you act is some genetic trait I have yet to encounter. I have no siblings and neither does he._

_There is no reconciliation for us perhaps there never was. Perhaps you lied about how you felt about me from that apology in first year on. I know better though and I believe you are better than that. I hope one day you find all the things you've so desperately searched for. I'm dying it's the truth no smokescreens no anything. It's the thing you always accused me of loving so dearly, cold hard facts._

_I've a role to play I barely understand but from that night on it's been that way. I shudder to think of where we would all be if you had chosen what you did when you did. Dumbledore tells me that through some sacrifice we will when, he says it has to do with the power of love. I have never doubted that power if you must know. Seems odd, no, that after everything I would believe, believe in the things you taught me. When you met me I didn't believe a damn thing like that. You brought that into existence with me for that I shall always be grateful to you. I don't regret a single thing we have done in the months that have followed, nor will I in the years that follow numbered as they may be. _

_Don't mistake me though I am so incredibly sorry for the way things are ending but it's just how things are. It's far too late for me to fix things. In the greatest part of my soul I wouldn't if I could. I genuinely believe its better this way. This way I'll die without a fuss. If you loved me it would be harder. Harder to leave you behind without me, living that kind of life, a life I never wanted for you. Now you'll be with another she will stand with you where I can't. You won't try to save me for even I see that it is far too late for such heroics. My choice is made and perhaps it was made that very night. If you suddenly forgave me, I would want out of it. I wouldn't want to give myself over to save a world for which I would not live to see. _

_I'm dying alone, it's pitiful but I don't begrudge you an inch. I know now what I want. If anything I like others before me have found the epiphany at the end. Strange to think as the world goes dark for me a bright light will shine at the end of it. I want for you a happiness I never had the pleasure of finding. I want you to be the man that I saw in you. I know what I want for myself twisted as it is. I want to die; I want to be done with this. I'm not suicidal don't get that impression please. _

_I'm just ready, ready for the choices to be made; Ready for the battle to rage. I'm so tired I can barely stand anymore, I want to sleep. I know better now than ever before it's my time, no matter how corny that sounds it's true._

_I just wanted to say that I loved you more perhaps than you'll ever truly know. I'm not sorry for who I am, I never will be again not for any man. I don't begrudge you; things are the way they are. Goodbye for the last time my lionheart._

Harry awoke with a heaviness he couldn't shake. He knew Voldemort was closer ever so closer. He was coming, he was coming for Harry. He was coming to end things once and for all. He could feel in his bones in his core some preternatural sixth sense. He let Ron sleep as he sat in the window sill stroking Hedwig softly. She seemed to understand the finality of this last visit. In her own animalistic way she savored the last moments of peace just as Harry did.

In the later hours of the morning nearly eight Ron finally awoke. Harry wasn't bothering with class today it would be absolutely useless. He could no longer pretend that the battle wasn't coming; that the last steps to the end weren't arriving at his doorstep. He knew Voldemort would be here. He knew he would come before the day was over.

Ron took one look into Harry's eyes and knew the truth. It needed no explanation. They made their way done to breakfast with the heavy knowledge this was in all likely hood their last meal together. In some twisted sense of fate the house elves had served their favorite breakfast. They each feasted deciding to spend the last vestiges of time talking. They didn't want to fill their last moments with meaningless jokes, with a heavy silence or an absolute anger at the events unfolding before their eyes.

They headed back up the common room each with different purposes. Ron settled down with ink and quill to write a long letter to his parents. He didn't know if he would survive this coming battle and he didn't want to die with words unspoken. Harry was consciously going back over everything every memory. He was reliving his entire life without the benefit of a pensive. The two seemed to trade purposes in the mid morning. Harry settled himself down in a corner of the common room watching for a moment the stillness and emptiness that so filled it. He spoke the words in those last letters that he would never be able to utter in life. He doubted they would ever be read and a part of him profoundly wished they wouldn't be read. He said all the things he needed to say and he was better for it.

Hermione wanted to fiddle with the muggle clothes she wore beneath the black witches robes. It was a pale auburn dress. The thin straps and silken material clung to her. It was her favorite dress it was what she wanted to die fighting in. She brought herself to her feet with a great force and shuffled across the blue-grey carpet to the drapes.

She forced them open looking into the bittersweet tangerine sky spike with crimson. She could almost feel the cool wind dancing upon her skin. She turned at the sounds of the door being eased open. It was Dumbledore dressed in those familiar midnight blue robes of his. He beckoned to her without saying a thing. There was nothing else to say , nothing else to do but face the fight. To face the death before her, her own death. To face the choices she had made. It was simply time for all of them.

This is the next to last chapter so I just wanted to say it's been a blast!


	10. Sacrifice of Love

AN: this is it everybody, I've genuinely loved writing this story. I hope you've enjoyed the ride.

Disclaimer: I own very little and they simply aren't a part of the collection

Hermione crossed the room to where Dumbledore stood holding his hand out to her. She felt in that moment of connecting to him her strength return to her in the last hours. The strength she would need. They left the room and Hermione refused to look back if she looked back now she would never be able to go forward. They apparated from the safe house and onto the road just outside of the gates of Hogwarts. They walked through the iron wrought gates up the long walk to the school.

Harry and Ron dressed in their most comfortable clothes topping them off with black robes. Harry noticed off handedly that Ron's robes were faded and a few inches short. They walked for what they knew would most likely be their last time together out of the dormitory. Neither looked back as they crossed the empty common room heading out into the corridors. They walked with purpose through the corridors striding right down to the main entrance hall. They stopped a few feet short of the grand doors. They turned to each other all the things unspoken were in that moment unnecessary. They hugged tightly together such as only brothers could.

Pushing open the doors to the outside world, refusing to look back knowing they had to keep going they had to fight. They crossed the lawn heading for the sounds of chaos already occurring on the lawn. The death eaters were marching a long line towards them. They began firing off spell after spell. Dodging here and rolling there to avoid all manner of curses being flung their way. More and more students and teachers began to spill out onto the lawn.

A dance was being performed a dance of terrible darkness and death. The air reeked with the stench of fear, darkness and death. It became a palpable thing in that final battle. In the center of the fighting a tall figure stalked forward. Harry began to move towards it and the people parted like the red sea before him. They were to caught up in their own battles to notice. To enraptured with their own struggle to survive to notice anything ekes. Ron followed beside and yet behind his dearest friend in all the world.

Ron left him as they reached Voldemort he knew with all he had that Harry had to face old snake face on his own. He turned about to face down as many death eaters as he could. If he was going to die he would take as many as he could down with him He watched in fascinated horror as the people he knew and loved fell all about him as they each fought for the chance at future a future few that were there that day would ever see.

Harry met Voldemort with a clam that enraptured his very soul. They each bowed to the other with a long forgotten grace. They began to duel in the most violent way imaginable. Curse after curse was being thrown by each. Hermione looked to Dumbledore caught up in his own battles knowing it was time. She watched from a far as she made her way towards the two dueling in the center of the battle.

They were the eye of the storm brewing and bursting over. She walked with a serenity she had never known till that moment. Harry brought Voldemort to his knees with a curse that was lost to the chaotic noise and whistling wind. She saw Voldemort rise again and she made her move. She had come unnoticed between the two as Voldemort shot a burst of green light.

It caught Hermione square in the chest with a sharpness she had only imagined. Harry watched in horror as she took the blow for him. He watched as her body seemed to defy the very curse she had been hit with. In that final pain Hermione understood the sacrifice she was giving; she became aware of the deep magic before the dawn of time. The magic forged in the darkness and bound by a thing humans refer to as love.

Her body lifted itself from the ground and she hovered there. The entire battle seemed to pause in terrified fascination each needing to see, each needing to understand. Bands of multi colored light seeped from her body encasing the three in a bubble of golden light that reflected every color at the same time. Time seemed to stop as the golden light consumed all three in within its cage. Then a sudden explosion of bright green light ricocheted all through the bubble. It cascaded to every single fraction of a surface with a simple power. The golden light seemed to fade to a burnt crimson as it disappeared.

Every person there watched as the body of the now apparently dead girl floated to the ground. The two who had dueled lay upon the ground in a state that left no doubt to the mind. They had all died and yet in that finality of the situation it gave strength to the order and all of its numbers. They fought with renewed strength.

On the immaculate lawns of the stone castle rising from the very mountains themselves the fate of the world was decided. The order was able to finally subdue the last remnants of Voldemort and his death eaters.

With the final death of their leader they seemed to lose something in themselves that had enabled them to fight for so long. Hermione and Harry both were laid to rest in a private clearing deep within the forbidden forest. Ron sat at their grave site neither melancholy nor angry; he was an emotion he had no name for. Ginny he knew was standing on the edges of the clearing.

They had each received letters from the two deceased. They could not go back, they could change nothing and somehow they were glad of it. The end had come to all things in that chapter of their lives. They had nothing to do but move on that was what they would have wanted. They moved on with peace with memories of love and their loved ones.

An autumn day years later Ron and Ginny stood proudly beside their parents. They had decided to share their wedding days turning it into a double wedding. After the final battle they had grown closer than ever before. They had finally found happiness, in the very way Harry and Hermione had wished for them. In a quiet moment of repose Ron would have sworn he heard the wind whispered to him, _Goodbye lionheart_.

On this same autumn day a half giant sat in a clearing of the forbidden forest. He was joined by a wizened old man with half moon spectacles. They had laid flowers at the graves and sat in repose watching the burnt crimson light play across the thick leaves of the forest.

It is done and complete now everyone. That is the end of this particular story. It has truly been an absolute pleasure to write this one. I hope you enjoyed it. There won't be a sequel to this the story is done. Cat Out.


End file.
